MY END OF SUMMER BLOG
Posted by Carole Stuart on August 22, 2010 | (7) Comments
EVOLUTION OF A REVOLUTION
Lyle Stuart was the first publisher of Dr. Albert Ellis with SEX WITHOUT GUILT. Soon after came the sensational (at the time) THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LOVE An icon of 20th century psychology, Ellis was a founder of the cognitive behavioral movement. Barricade Books continued publishing many of Dr. Ellis’ books including When AA Doesn’t Work for You, The Art and Science of Rational Eating and Sex Without Guilt in the 21st Century.
After Ellis’ death two directors at the Albert Ellis Institute, James McMahon PhD, and Ann Vernon Ph.D., produced an impressive collection of Ellis’ writings. Evolution of a Revolution, traces the evolution of Ellis’ philosophy and methodology from its Freudian roots to present day cognitive therapy. This book will be an important addition to the field of cognitive therapy and will fascinate followers of Ellis’ unique, outspoken approach. Look for it in bookstores, on Amazon or directly from Barricade Books.
BARRY FARBER
Barry Farber will celebrate 50 years on the radio this September and was nominated this year to the National Radio Hall of Fame. He launched his career in New York in 1960 and began hosting a national talk show on the ABC Radio Network in 1990. “The Barry Farber Show” is nationally syndicated and is heard Monday through Friday over CRN Digital Talk Radio (http://crntalk.com/)and Saturday afternoons on the Talk Radio network http://www.talkradionetwork.com/).
Everyone who was anyone has been a guest on Barry’s shows. He’s always a gentleman and while on the conservative side of issues, he invites opposing opinions, rare enough these days. Over the years, Barry has interviewed most of our authors. It got me to wondering what it was like to work for him. For that information I contacted friend Randi Levine-Miller, who has worked her publicity magic for more publishers than I can count, including our old company, Lyle Stuart Inc. These days Randi is a member of New York’s Friar’s Club and was named friar of the year in 2007.
Like many in the media business, she was once Barry Farber’s producer. “Barry created new phrases and words which I still quote... 'imaginuity'" was one -- he also used the word "phospheresence" quite a bit. Barry fascinated, educated, mesmerized me with his keen mind & wit -- he also intimidated me like you can't imagine. I was just a young, starry-eyed girl from Mosholu parkway-- but I learned my lessons well. He had tremendous, positive impact on my life, as well as many others. I’ll always love & respect my "mashugana mentor"!
In addition to his broadcasting career, Barry has published several books including "Making People Talk," "How to Learn Any Language," "How to Conceal Stupidity" and "How to Not Make the Same Mistake Once." (Barricade Books published the last one)
His latest is almost finished and it’s charming, Title: “Chapter Ones.” As Barry says, after meeting and interviewing thousands of guests he figured he had the makings of 189 great books provided he could come up with all the other chapters. Not being able to do that this book is made up of single-chapter-books. What a smart idea. They cover a wide range of topics from Cocktails with Molotov” to “Colored Water.” The latter is one of my favorites and I have Barry’s permission to print it below in its entirety. Enjoy:
Colored Water
You may not trust the memory of a five-year-old but I'm asking you to trust me on this one. It's so stark and clear.
I was five years old. My mother took me into Woolworth's Department Store in Greensboro, North Carolina and developed an ingenious idea of what to do with me when she wanted to rid herself of a small child and free-roam throughout the store. She took me downstairs to the toy department and positioned me in the middle of what she thought was the most exciting part of the whole operation for me.
"Barry," she said. "I want you to keep that foot there and the other foot there where it is. Mother's got to go upstairs and do some shopping and I don't want you to move even one inch. Do you understand?
I pretended I did, and maybe I almost did.
Mother made me practice. Left foot here. Right foot there. Nothing moves until mother gets back, okay? Deal! I agreed.
I was in the middle of the toy department, but I eventually got bored with the toys that were within my eyesight. And I didn't even think of moving one foot or the other. Eventually I looked up away from the toys and saw two water fountains straight ahead. I was one of those pain-in-the-neck kids who could read somewhat at the age of five. The signs over the water fountains interested me. One sign said, "white" and the other said, "colored."
"White" and "colored," what was that all about? Don't forget; I was five. If you ask a five-year-old what color water is, he won't say "clear." He'll say "white." I thought one of those fountains shot forth plain "white" water and the other offered water of various colors. I had no knowledge of racial segregation at that age and suddenly I thought I might be treated to the spectacle of "colored" water, a prospect almost as exciting as fireworks at that age.
I kept a keen eye on those fountains. Everybody who came to take a drink drank from the "white" fountain. I didn't realize they were all white people. I just thought they were all exceedingly unimaginative people who didn't want to experience the thrill of "colored" water. Finally a man came to the "colored" fountain, his skin color meant nothing to me, and my little heart leapt at the notion of finally seeing "colored" water. Alas, the water from his fountain was just like that from the "white" fountain.
I clearly remember thinking, "Shucks. The "colored" fountain is broken today.
It took a few years to realize the One who made the water had a different concept from the one who made the sign!
That was, by the way, the same Woolworth's that made international headlines in 1960 when the first successful sit-in of black students from A & T College eventually broke restaurant segregation across the south.
The water they were eventually served was indistinguishable from that of the whites.
NEW IN PAPERBACK
Two recent best sellers for Barricade will be available in trade paperback in about a month. They are two of the more than 20 titles in our True-Crime Series, which grows steadily. Both titles went into four hardcover printings and continue to be strong sellers.
MAFIA AND THE MACHINE by Frank Hayde
When it was first released in 2008, The Mafia and the Machine shot to the top of the local bestseller list, outselling John Grisham, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Cormac McCarthy at Kansas City area bookstores. Strong sales outside the Midwest have been a delightful surprise, though not altogether unexpected considering the key role the Kansas City Family played on the national scene. Author Frank R. Hayde, who is a U.S. Park Ranger with deep roots in Kansas City, became interested in the subject while working a stint at the Harry Truman National Historic Site, where he learned more about the political “Machine” that became openly intertwined with the powerful local Mafia syndicate. After four sold-out hardback printings, the book is now scheduled for a paperback edition, which includes an update on recent activities in the Kansas City underworld. Hayde will launch the paperback release with an October 23 signing at the Kansas City Store, followed the next day by a signing at the Kansas City International Airport. The Mafia and the Machine has a 4 ½ star rating out of 5 on Amazon and was described by Midwest Book Review as “Efficiently researched and told with a sense of excitement sure to intrigue readers of all backgrounds… a highly recommended contribution to American history and criminal history shelves.”
JAILING THE JOHNSTON GANG: Bringing Serial Murders to Justice by Bruce E. Mowday
Initially, the author hit the road and singlehandedly sold about 1500 copies of the book. He is an amazing speaker and went everywhere: libraries, book fairs, ladies clubs, you name it. This one describes the criminal activities of serial murderers Norman, David and Bruce a. Johnston, Sr. (the latter was leader of the gang). Sr. earned his reputation as a madman, butcher and Chester County, Pennsylvania’s most notorious criminal. Not bad enough? After raping his son’s girlfriend, Johnston Sr. ordered his brothers to murder his son and he shot his stepson to death. The book caught on and was the cleanest selling book of our list last year. To the non-book people: no returns.
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY?
I was going to end this Hot News with an amusing story but, when I read a recent commentary from Ed Koch, I quickly changed my mind. What is going on in this, our great nation is shameful. The movement to abolish the right of citizenship to those born in the USA and the argument against constructing a mosque near Ground Zero flies in the face of how this nation was conceived. What makes this country different and, if I may say so, great, is too important not to print Koch’s words:
Ed Koch Commentary
August 16, 2010
Citizens Recall And Be Guided By The Letter of President George Washington To The Jews of Rhode Island. It Applies To The Muslims of New York.
President Obama was right to express his views on constructing a mosque near Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 catastrophe, “As a citizen and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances.
The President is also right to oppose as he does the efforts by some to amend the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution to bar babies born to illegal immigrants from becoming citizens.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was first to take up the fight to protect the legitimate rights of American Muslims to build a mosque near Ground Zero, was right and courageous to lead the way and point Americans in the right direction.
President Obama, according to The New York Times of August 15th is now “faced with withering Republican criticism of his defense of the right of Muslims to build a community center and mosque near Ground Zero.” Those leading the charge against the President, according to The Times, “including Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, the House minority leader and Representative Peter King of New York, forcefully rejected the President’s stance.”
The President’s position will be remembered by later generations of Americans with the same high regard as President George Washington’s letter in 1790 to the Jews of Rhode Island who built the Touro Synagogue in that state. Moses Seixas of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island wrote to George Washington: “Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free Citizens, we now with a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty disposer of all events behold a Government, erected by the Majesty of the People — a Government, which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance — but generously affording to all Liberty of conscience, and immunities of Citizenship: — deeming every one, of whatever Nation, tongue, or language equal parts of the great governmental Machine: — This so ample and extensive Federal Union whose basis is Philanthropy, Mutual confidence and Public Virtue, we cannot but acknowledge to be the work of the Great God, who ruleth in the Armies of Heaven, and among the Inhabitants of the Earth, doing whatever seemeth him good.”
President Washington responded as follows: “...The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent national gifts. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy. G. Washington”
Let us not do again, albeit in different form and to a different group what we did to Japanese-Americans during World War II when we rounded them up without cause. No Japanese-American was ever charged with treason, notwithstanding that they were placed in internment camps for the balance of the war.
I am a proud Jew. Proud of my religion and my culture. Columnist David Brooks, also Jewish and similarly proud, in a New York Times article of January 12, 2010, wrote of our people’s accomplishments: “Jews are a famously accomplished group. They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates. Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 percent of the Kennedy Center honorees, 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 percent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction.”
We Jews also have our share of thieves, predators, child molesters, Ponzi-schemers, traitors and profiteers. Muslims have their share of great world accomplishments – the concept of zero, advancements in mathematics, medicine, chemistry, botany and astronomy. They also have their share of crazies, tyrants, homophobes, those holding hostile and irrational attitudes towards women, vilification of Jews, Christians, Hindus and other so-called infidels.
Let’s be calm now and not need the passage of time to bring us to our senses and years later apologize. Of course, those who suffered the loss of loved ones, and those exposed to the catastrophe of 9/11 have every right to hold opinions opposing the building of the mosque. They are grieving and rightfully enraged at anyone associated in any way with the 19 Muslim terrorists who were responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11, and all of us must sympathize with them and their feelings.
But Americans must never forget who we are and why our Founding Fathers and those who built the original 13 colonies came here. It was primarily to find and create a new country in which they could practice religious freedom, denied them in England. Jews found that freedom of religion in New Amsterdam, where the East India Company of Holland directed the first public anti-Semite in that city – its Governor, Peter Stuyvesant – to let them in, he first refusing to do so.
I believe we are locked in battle with fanatical Islam and will be for the foreseeable future. I do not believe the vast majority of Muslims, and American Muslims in particular, are fanatics or enemies of the American people.
Government should neither favor nor hinder the efforts of religious institutions, other than to protect their rights to engage in carrying them out as permitted under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
A final word on those seeking to end the concept of American citizenship by virtue of birth, led by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC): Don’t they understand that the concept of citizenship by birth is one of the great American ideas of which we have been justly proud and which distinguishes us from many other countries and has served us well? They should not fear the Know Nothings, whose voices are loud, but whose numbers are small. They should not shame themselves by joining these violators of American values and traditions.
Until next time,
Carole
SUMMER
Posted by Carole Stuart on June 04, 2010 | (1) Comments
SUMMER!
Summer has officially started. Memorial Day marked the beginning of escaping from the comfort of your Monday-to-Friday home and travel great distances in lots of traffic to visit your weekend home or the weekend home of a friend. You pack a bathing suit, bring gifts of food or wine or flowers and enjoy yourself only to repeat the journey Sunday afternoon or evening to go back home.
I had a house in Columbia County, upstate New York, for many years. The county became known as “The Unhamptons”—very low key. Now I find myself visiting friends in those Hamptons and even going to Montauk to see my daughter, Jenni, her husband, Brad, and the grandchildren, Dylan, Justin and Jackson. Montauk is referred to as “The End” since it is the very end of the Island. It’s all very pretty, the ocean is spectacular and worth the trip.
BOOK EXPO 2010
As many of you readers of this blog know, book publishing is undergoing a transformation as we in the industry try to figure out what the impact of e-books on actual books will be. Our books, like those of most publishers, are up on electronic devices, and each month, we see an increase in sales of e-books. It’s hardly a blip on our radar, but it’s definitely happening. Nevertheless, the tradition of gathering at a huge convention center to hype this fall’s contenders for bestseller lists, and not-quite-bestsellers, continues.
In the past, it was a three-day event called the American Booksellers Association convention that took place over the Memorial Day weekend. I’ve been doing this long enough to remember when it was held in Washington, D.C., always sultry that time of year. It took place in the garage of the Shoreham Hotel and was a raucous affair. Lyle Stuart, Inc., our company, gave away all kinds of things: orange juice, ice cream, bottles of Scotch whiskey–even money. You didn’t need an invitation to attend the parties that started after the exhibits closed. All that was necessary was to get off the elevator at a random floor, listen for laughter and the tinkling of cocktail glasses, and you headed in that direction.
Boy, have things grown and changed.
This year’s Book Expo America, the convention’s new name, was held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City a two-day, midweek affair—Wednesday and Thursday, May 26th and 27, thus freeing all to enjoy a real Memorial Day weekend holiday.
The convention is a venue to show off new books and has also become a serious opportunity to sell subsidiary rights. That’s where publishers’ rights people make deals with foreign publishers, book clubs, audio companies, etc. that provide other sources of income outside of traditional (bookstore) outlets.
The hyping of Big Fall Books was intense. I haven’t seen as many bound galleys of the hopeful authors and their publishers given away as this year. There were long lines at many booths where authors signed and gave out galleys. “Free” has unparalleled allure, and attendees were taking home their prizes in a variety of creative tote bags.
Barbra Streisand kicked off the convention Tuesday night before the Expo opening. Barbra was interviewed by Gayle King about her book, A PASSION FOR DESIGN (Viking). She drew a big crowd including my niece, Carla Rose, who is in my debt forever for making this happen. Carla, a Streisand groupie, got a seat up front and networked herself into new friendships.
Under “Small World” category, Carla, wearing a Barricade Books badge, sat next to Merrill Kalman who was in New York scouting authors to speak at a luncheon in Phoenix. Merrill asked if she knew Carole Stuart. “She’s my aunt!” Turns out Merrill is close friends with my son-in-law’s mother, also my good friend, Carol Kern, national president of Brandeis National Committee. They are both active in the Phoenix Chapter of the Brandeis National Committee where they host a yearly luncheon that draws top authors who speak and sell lots of their books. All this as a fundraiser for Brandeis.
Merrill visited the Barricade booth, met author Mordechai (Morty) Dzikansky, whose book, TERRORIST COP, The NYPD Jewish Cop Who Traveled the World to Fight Terrorism, comes out this fall. Merrill, coincidentally, had been a NYC cop. She and Morty bonded, and perhaps, he will be a guest at the next luncheon in Phoenix.
The Sunday evening before the convention, Morty presented a two-minute talk about his book at the Jewish Book Council, an impressive and important organization comprised of representatives of the major Jewish book fairs and Jewish community centers around the country. They listen to more than 150 authors over a three-day period and invite some to speak at their venues where lots of books are sold.
Morty talked about how he became an expert in terrorism having witnessed many suicide bombing scenes. He was immediately invited to three Jewish book fairs.
After reading TERRORIST COP, I was riveted with the information about security. The recent failed bombing attempt in New York’s Times Square (where, by the way, I was attending a play) prompted Morty to tell me he was not surprised that the street vendors called attention to the illegally parked car. Police are cycled in and out of the area, but the vendors—they are there on a daily basis year in, year out. “We tell them [the vendors] what to look for.” It certainly worked this time. But, Morty cautioned, “You can expect more of this.”
The book not only relates what our Terrorist Cop witnessed after suicide bombings in Israel, Moscow, Istanbul and Spain, it also offers information about what to do and how to become more alert.
LYLE STUART
I close this Hot News with an article written by friend Jay Gertzman. June 24 marks the fourth anniversary of Lyle’s death. I thought it timely to reprint this essay that describes Lyle Stuart, not by me but through the eyes of a scholar and admirer. I have not identified any of the names in the article; those who are familiar with them will need no introduction. For those who are not—go to Google!
Lyle Stuart: Between
George Seldes and I. F. Stone
Lyle Stuart, who died on June 24, 2006, at age 83, was as independent and progressive a journalist as America has produced. Stuart worked for Variety for a period in the late 1940s, but left disillusioned by the trade paper’s connections with insiders in Hollywood and its too-friendly relations with key advertisers. From that point on, Lyle Stuart became a maverick in the tradition of George Seldes. As a young book publisher (Lyle Stuart Inc. began in 1956), he dared publish a book by Fidel Castro, (HISTORY WILL ABSOLVE ME). He issued early exposés of the power of the DuPont family (THE DUPONT DYNASTY), of the FBI (INSIDE THE FBI) and its domestic spying. He published Ferdinand Lundberg’s study of the intractable gulf between the wealth of the “super rich” and the resources of the rest of the population (THE RICH AND THE SUPER-RICH) that became an international bestseller. He published pioneer sex therapist Albert Ellis (SEX WITHOUT GUILT) and best-selling THE SENSUOUS WOMAN, one of the first examples of the mainstreaming of sexually explicit material. In 1959, he proudly reissued Dalton Trumbo's classic antiwar novel, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, with an introduction by the blacklisted author.
During this period of the 1950s and ’60s, he published a monthly newspaper, Exposé (renamed The Independent), a “press newsletter” (George Seldes’ term) that filled the gap between Seldes’ newsletter, In Fact, and I. F. Stone’s Weekly. Paul Krassner wrote a regular column titled “Freedom of Wit” for The Independent plus feature stories and later became managing editor. In 1958 while working in Lyle’s office he started The Realist.
SStandard histories of American radical periodicals hardly mention Lyle Stuart’s work—an injustice, as well as a blunder.
When Stuart, his first wife Mary Louise and writer Joe Whalen established their monthly Exposé in late 1951, it would not make anyone rich. In fact, Lyle never drew a salary from the paper. Aware from their own print media experience of the imbalance that corporate advertisers had created in print media, Whalen and the Stuarts were determined that Exposé would feature stories major newspapers would not touch due to fear of advertisers’ cancellations or pressure groups’ influence on subscribers or newsstand purchasers. Advertisements do exist in Exposé, mostly for books, but the editors never solicited them. Its founders determined never to reveal a confidential source, and so that no filaments of private wealth (even so-called “philanthropy”) ever entangled them, never to request a donation.
The second issue was the turning point. It contained eight articles by Stuart on Walter Winchell, the preeminent gossip columnist of the Hearst newspaper chain. A liberal under FDR, Winchell had become an ardent commie hunter; prominent people were so afraid of him that they crossed the street to avoid coming under his gaze. His innuendos could kill reputations, and his personal truculence was deeply resented. In October 1951, he became embroiled in a nasty contretemps with dancer Josephine Baker about her claim that she, as a black woman, had received poor service in The Stork Club. Winchell was mentioned in her complaint to the NAACP; she accused him of blatantly snubbing her. As Neal Gabler’s book, WINCHELL GOSSIP, POWER, AND THE CULTURE OF CELEBRITY, shows, it was the club’s owner, Sherman Billingsley, not Winchell, who was discriminating against Baker. Winchell could have avoided the “pub-lousity” that followed by apologizing or downplaying the NAACP criticism, but that was not his manner. He wrote many self-justifying columns, ruining his reputation as a supporter of African-American causes.
Knowing the potential of a Winchell exposé with smoke from The Stork Club firestorm still in the air, Stuart quickly re-edited his November Exposé and had the staff hand-distribute copies to Times Square newsstands. He had been disappointed with the way the distributor failed to get his first issue displayed and now offered dealers “twice the usual commission,” as Gabler reports, for displaying copies of the second issue. Within an hour, he received calls for more. Eventually, 91,000 copies were sold.
Exposé had a few regular and very important columnists. One specialized in Jim Crow atrocities, another in money management and another in current newspaper policies. In 1956, Paul Krassner began doing satirical essays on his generation’s eccentricities, and Albert Ellis had a monthly essay on how Americans might liberate their sexual desires from taboos. Other publishers had considered Ellis’ sex-related essays too offensive to religious authorities to publish. Lyle Stuart Inc. later published them in book form. There were, in addition, a few top-flight writers whose work Stuart championed. One was Paul Blanchard, whose books on the power of the Catholic hierarchy to censor popular entertainment made him one of Lyle’s favorite advocates for First Amendment issues. Another was Drew Pearson, fearless investigator of Washington power brokers.
In the 1950s and ’60s, Lyle attacked hypocrisy and political spin wherever he found it, fearing nothing. When he attacked the Anti-Defamation League for inflating the threat of anti-Semitic hate groups, his printer was forced by community pressure to refuse to do further business with him, and the mayor of North Bergen, New Jersey, had him removed from the board of directors of the Bergen County library. As a powerful supporter of racial equality, Stuart deplored the ADL’s failure to censure forcefully the lack of justice given Southern blacks. Further, he was irate when the organization gave Kate Smith, a singer on record as having anti-Semitic views, an award.
Typical targets of Lyle’s investigations were: television networks, for abandoning their responsibility to inform people about national and international affairs because major advertisers wanted programming with which they could integrate their products; Boys Town, for quietly discriminating on the basis of applicants’ race and religion; the West German armed forces for employing former Nazi sympathizers; Eisenhower, for allowing the consumer protection laws to be weakened; the Army, for requesting a loyalty oath including a list of hundreds of suspected subversive organizations that the inductee was to swear he had not joined; the March of Dimes, for obscuring the impending dangers of various killer diseases; abortion laws, for condemning poor women to dangerous medical procedures while wealthy ones had easy access; prison regulations against sex in prison, for institutionalizing homosexuality and nurturing shame, violence, and recidivism.
Exposé and The Independent were at the center of independent journalism for 18 years. To hell with Kate Smith. God bless Lyle Stuart, even though he lived and died an avowed atheist.
Jay A Gertzman
This is a summary of an article titled “Expose / The Independent,” published in Cult Magazines A to Z, ed. Earl Kemp and Luis Ortiz, (NY: Nonstop Press, 2009), pp.67-72.
Until next time,
Carole
April
Posted by Carole Stuart on April 16, 2010 | (2) Comments
Hot News - April
Jennifer’s Big Birthday
I recently got back from Park City, Utah, where daughter, Jennifer Kern, celebrated her (gulp!) 40th birthday. She’s all grown up now and has her own family. All of them: Jen, husband Brad, kids Dylan (7), Justin (5) and even Jackson (2-1/2) are on skis. The big boys ski double black diamond and Jackson, not yet using poles, is fearless and will soon join his brothers.
Family and friends spent spring break/Passover/Easter holiday at a fabulous house one block away from the main street in Park City, where the Sundance Film Festival is held. Every morning they suited up, opened the side door of the four-story home and got right on the ski lift literally next to the house(taking them to the top of the mountain. (Not the baby!)
Most of the guests were skiers but some of us were shoppers, eaters and lazy people. It was great fun. Happy Birthday Jen.
Another Big Birthday! On May 3rd; one of my dearest friends and authors, Norman Corwin will celebrate his 100th birthday.
For those of you not familiar with Corwin, what follows will give you the briefest of looks at what he has done in his illustrious career and some of what is in the works for The Big Birthday Celebration. (Special thanks to Cristian Borjas, the wonderful fellow who looks after Norman for this information.)
Emmy, Peabody, and Golden Globe winner, he began as a journalist and writer-director of acclaimed radio dramas before moving on to master virtually every kind of writing; essays, screenplays, television, and theater were just a few of the mediums he conquered. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for “LUST FOR LIFE” when he worked with director VIncente Minnelli and star Kirk Douglas in the story of the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh.
On now at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado, California, through May 23 is Corwin’s riveting play, THE RIVALRY, a close-up portrait of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas two larger-than-life personalities, and the behind-the-scenes drama between the men and Senator Douglas's beautiful, witty wife Adele.
THE RIVALRY was on at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. and Justice Sonia Sotomayor was so enthralled she’s trying to have it play at the White House. Norman promised to invite me!
For many, Norman is best known for On A Note of Triumph. On May 8, 1945, 60 million Americans tuned in to hear this radio masterpiece marking the end of World War II in Europe. Lauded by Carl Sandburg as "one of the all-time great American poems," it was the most listened-to radio drama in U.S. history. You can listen to it by going on the NPR website: www.npr.org. They rebroadcast it on May 26, 2005 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the historic broadcast.
The Corwin family is something of a genealogical miracle. Norman’s brother, Emil, just turned 107. Their father, Sam, lived to 110.
When Authors Meet Authors
Recently, two of our authors met at our office.Tom McShane STOLEN MASTERPIECE TRACKER, (with Dary Matera) and Jim O’Neil A COP’S TALE: NYPD – THE VIOLENT YEARS (with Mel Fazzino) discovered both were living on Long Island; both were retired – McShane from the FBI and detective sergeant O’Neil from the NYPD. Need I point out both are Irishmen?
The inevitable happened and they were soon a team. Tom told Jim he was working on an unsolved theft involving paintings valued in today’s market at close to $600-million. This past March 18 marked the twentieth anniversary of the theft from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and there’s still not a clue as to who the perpetrators are.
What greater challenge could you offer law enforcement guys? Toss in the $5-million reward and it wasn’t long before they were uncovering facts that should have been obvious to any good investigator. When Jim spoke to Anthony Amore, currently the head of security for the museum, and told him what he found all he said was, “If you had been involved in the initial investigation this would have been solved nineteen years ago.” Of course, Mel Fazzino and pal Melissa Stanton who helped publicize A COP’S TALE became part of the team.
Stolen were three Rembrandts, one Vermeer, five Degas drawings, and a Manet. I hope they find them and get the reward. And I hope they remember Barricade when they write about it!
Coming This Fall from Barricade Books
You’ll be hearing lots more about our Fall/Winter list but here’s an early look at two of our upcoming titles.
Our a long relationship with Leon Charney began in 2001 with our publication of THE CHARNEY REPORT, interviews from his television show of the same name with a wide range of guests from the world of diplomacy and politics to literature and entertainment. In 2006, Charney gained acclaim with THE MYSTERY OF THE KADDISH written with Saul Mayzlish.
This September we will publish BATTLE OF THE TWO TALMUDS. Charney and Mayzlish again extend their reach into Jewish history exploring the reasons and methods rabbis and talmudic scholars abandoned the Holy Land to settle in what came to be known as the lands of the Diaspora.
TERRORIST COP by Mordecai Dzikansky and Bob Slater incorporates both Judaism and true-crime.
Morty Dzikansky became a cop - unusual for a Jew - even more so for an orthodox Jew. A rarity in the NYPD, he soon became the go-to Jewish cop whenever a crime involving Jewish issues came up. One major assignment was the case of the stolen torahs. The thefts seemed to center around Englewood, New Jersey. A lot of torahs were being stolen and fenced. Morty found the thieves, the torahs, and closed the case.
After the Twin Towers came down on 9/11, New York City’s police commissioner Ray Kelly assigned him to live in Israel and learn as much as he could about suicide bombers. This information would be vital to the security of New York City as evidenced by the extremely effective security methods New York uses to counter terrorism.
Much of the book details Morty’s witnessed accounts of the aftermath of suicide bombings and reporting back to the NYPD about how the Israelis confront the ongoing horror of repeated attacks. His background eventually took him beyond Israel to Turkey and Moscow where he gathered intelligence and sent it back to New York. It is truly a heart-stopping read. Look for it in November.
I close this Hot News with a piece written not by me but by dear friend, Patrick O’Connor who fills my mailbox with funnies and makes me smile.
GENE KELLY’S BROTHER AND THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND
When I was eight years old I said to my father, “Please may I take tap dancing lessons?” He didn’t say the words but he gave me that look which clearly said only sissies take tap dancing lessons. Ever the smart mouth I said “What about your friends the Kelly brothers.” Gene Kelly, his younger brother Fred, their mother and sister had a dancing school in East Liberty; a streetcar ride away from Braddock. My father, an Irish tenor who sang around Pittsburgh, must have known them through that or else they were originally from Homestead or Munhall.
Fred Kelly was a staff sergeant on General Eisenhower’s staff in England prior to D-Day in Europe. Fred was not in the entertainment section but Eisenhower knew he could tap dance and asked him if he would go to Buckingham Palace and teach the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret to tap dance like Shirley Temple.
Sergeant Kelly went several times a week and indeed taught the little princesses to tap dance. He also taught them to do the Can-Can. When the English papers found out that an American soldier had taught the princesses the Can-Can there was a major scandal and England, all England, was horrified. The Can-Can as you may recall is a dance where the girls raise their skirts above their heads and expose their thighs which was considered very, very shocking in those backward days. The country was up in arms.
Fred Kelly was nearly court-martialed for doing such an outrageous thing. Years later there was a command performance in the presence of the now Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip for the premiere of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS starring Gene Kelly. After the film there was a receiving line with the Queen and the Prince at the head of it. The only time in history that Queen Elizabeth broke ranks and left her position; she went up to Gene Kelly and said, “You must be Fred’s brother.”
Until next time
Carole
DAVID BROWN
Posted by Carole Stuart on February 02, 2010 | (1) Comments
David Brown, film and Stage Producer, and our author, died at the age of 93. His obituary, written by Bruce Weber, appears in the New York Times today, February 2nd.
He was an elegant, talented man and a good friend. His wife, Helen Gurley Brown survives him. They were married for 51 years.
Below is a repeat of my Hot News of last August all about the Browns. It's worth reading again.
(I posted this after I wrote my blog of February 1 -- please don't miss that!)
sex and the very married girl
Posted by Carole Stuart on August 28, 2009 | (0) Comments
Helen Gurley Brown is in the news again. A biography, Bad Girls Go Everywhere, gives her the recognition she has earned as a truly liberated female. In the days of the militant women’s movement, Helen had the nerve to go in the opposite direction. As editor for Cosmopolitan, she was a girly girl and proud of it. How to meet, catch a man. How to be sexier, etc. It must have resonated with women because she stayed at the top of the heap for many years.
Her devoted husband, David Brown, no slouch himself, was co-producer of such films like, A Few Good Men, The Verdict, and Cocoon as well as the Broadway musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. David also wrote all the cover lines for Cosmopolitan when Helen was its editor.
Lyle and I had the pleasure of publishing both David and Helen. David’s two books, The Rest of Your Life is the Best of Your Life and Brown’s Guide to the Good Life Without Tears, Fears or Boredom. We also republished two of Helen’s, her best selling Sex and the Single Girl and Sex in the Office. (Check all four titles on our website).
I think of Helen and David as the nicest, easiest to work with authors. They are both pros—will go anywhere to sign books. And they have. Helen went to Bookends, a terrific bookstore in Ridgewood NJ where all the top authors appear. Unfortunately, the evening of her signing was rainy and dismal. But she was undaunted as was the crowd who came to hear her. She signed and sold a lot of books. David was the same. He’d sit in a booth at a convention, pleasantly greeting people and signing books.
When we published Brown’s Guide to the Good Life he had a signing at Barnes & Noble on 82nd Street and Broadway, set up by the events manager, Lou Pizzitola. It was a great crowd and it soon became the “David and Helen Show” as Helen joined in from the audience bantering lovingly with David.
Helen’s concern was that Barricade not lose money on the books. Not to worry, Helen, we did fine.
My fondest feelings for David and Helen come from their thoughtfulness after Lyle died. Lots of friends were calling and were very attentive. They could have done the same. They went a step further, took me to dinner at Le Cirque and cheered me up.
Their love for each other is an example of how relationships can work.
Moving Day and Other Bits and Pieces
Posted by Mark Morell on February 01, 2010 | (1) Comments
MOVING DAY AND OTHER BITS AND PIECES
Barricade Books is moving. As of February 1, we are not going far—just next to our current space in the same office building One change—we are no longer in Suite 308A. The new address is Suite 309,185 Bridge Plaza North, Ft. Lee NJ 07024. For anyone (like me) who still keeps a Rolodex, make note of this.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE FUTURE OF BOOKS?
EBooks, Kindle, Sony Reader, The Tablet, The Nook, PDFs, etc. Is there any topic of greater speculation in publishing than rights to electronic books?
I attended a large group of publishers, writers, literary agents and other assorted people in the industry recently held by The Author’s Guild at Scandinavian House in New York City to explore and discuss where this new medium will lead us. It seems to me that no one knows what the impact will be on the industry, but all were sure that it will—and already is—significant. My opinion, for the record, is we are all racing to catch up and be there—wherever “there” is. Our authors want their books on the devices—but how many know how little money is involved? Publishers can’t fix the prices for which books are sold. The Kindle sells most books for $9.99. Lately, it’s been written about how some books are given away free. It's just been reported that Amazon, bowing to pressure from Macmillan will adjust its pricing policy.
Add to the mix the many thousands of self-published books where authors can produce their own PDFs and get them up on a variety of Web sites, Amazon, Banes & Noble, etc., not to exclude their own sites. We too are eager to be in the game and will soon have our Web site equipped to not only sell our actual books direct to the consumer, we will also be able to make some books available for downloads, only from Barricade Books.
The wisest comment of the evening was from Susan Cheever. Cheever was the “author” on a panel made up of a literary agent, publisher and marketer of electronic books. Cheever pointed out that it’s still up to the author to create the book in the first place. Ebooks are here, and they appear to be staying. They offer a new opportunity to market our books. But here’s to the authors, let them continue to write new books, and let’s hope readers will continue to read. Today it was reported that Amazon agreed to change their pricing policy for books available on Kindle, responding to pressure from Macmillan.
What of the actual bookstores? The New York Times just reported the closing of Skyline Books after 20 years in business on West 18th Street in New York City. The owner, Rob Warren, can’t afford the rent increases or “behemoth bookstores and Web sites.” So he will begin selling online. There goes, as a customer called Skyline Books, “…the best bookstore on the East Coast.”
IN THE EARLY DAYS
Before we would grow to be one of the major publishers of mafia/true crime books, we met Rick Porello. Rick had been researching the murders of his notorious grandfather and three uncles—members of the Mafia. After nine years, he put his work together, and the result was THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CLEVELAND MAFIA.
Barricade published his book in 1995 in cloth, and it eventually went into a paperback format. Fifteen years later, it is still in print and has been one of our best-selling titles in the series. The story of Rick Porello and his family changed his life and started us on the path to publish more than 22 true-crime titles. Below, in Rick Porello’s words, you can follow his journey from Mafia family member to author.
Angelo “Big Ange” Lonardo and The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia
Even by the time that Licata, Italy, had served as an Allied landing point during the 1943 World War II invasion of Sicily, its distinction as having produced some of the most powerful men in the Italian-American Mafia, one in particular, was still unknown. Then in 1995, I memorialized the bloodshed that cursed my ancestors and revealed the significance of two cities, one American, one Sicilian, and their progeny in the history of the Mafia. The book: The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia. Its subjects are my grandfather, his six brothers, and their four Licatese countrymen, the Lonardos. By 1920. they had settled in Cleveland, Ohio, and stood apart from thousands of other immigrants seeking the freedom of America and working hard and patiently toward success. By 1927, the sons of Licata and Cleveland were wealthy, powerful and feared purveyors of corn sugar, a key ingredient of bootleg whiskey. The fortune and reign of the brothers Porrello and Lonardo among America’s first Mafiosi didn’t last long. By 1932, my grandfather was dead of a single bullet to the brain. Three of his brothers shared his fate. Three Lonardos, also.
As the sugar war closed, one teenager, Angelo Lonardo, avenged his father’s murder and thus sealed his own fate, swearing, above God himself, his allegiance to that dark and secret organization.
Fast forward to 1977, the murder of another ethnic mobster, the Irishman—Danny Greene—and unprecedented convictions across the U.S. Facing life in prison, the once powerful don Lonardo shocked family and friends and betrayed omerta. From a witness stand, he bought his freedom. And dozens of his brethren lost theirs. By the time don Lonardo died a very old man, the Italian-American Mafia had become public and penetrable, the very antithesis of the once-mighty society brought to Cleveland from Licata.
The above story was only the beginning of Rick’s adventure. Going in a different direction from his family, Rick was a veteran of a Cleveland policy agency with a degree in criminal justice. Today, he is a Cleveland-area police chief and author of three books about organized crime.
After THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CLEVELAND MAFIA, Rick started publishing his own books. His second book, To Kill the Irishman—the War that Crippled the Mafia, is now a major motion picture starring Ray Stevenson, Chris Walken, Val Kilmer and Paul Sorvino due to be released later this year. Visit http://www.movieset.com/theirishman
We plan to take publishing advantage by bringing an updated edition of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CLEVELAND MAFIA when the movie opens.
A little family note: Eileen Brand, Lyle’s sister-in-law, edited THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CLEVELAND MAFIA. Last year, at age 91, she self-published The Bodacious Ballot Box Burglary and Other Mysteries of My First Ninety-one Years. An engaging and insightful read. Go to http://ballotboxburglary.com/ to download it for free or to order a paperback copy.
Another little family note: Grandson Aaron Jaffe designed the Web site. Let me know if you’re interested in working with him.
BRRR. IT’S COLD OUT THERE . . .
On February 20, good friend, Steven Lidsky—my Columbia County pal—is taking a plunge—in Upper Rhoda Point at Camp Mohican in Copake, New York. This is the second leap in the lake for Steven and, he promises, the last—all for charity.
Steven is service coordinator supervisor of COARC. COARC (Columbia County ARC) is a nonprofit agency, now in its 45th year, which creates opportunities for developmentally disabled adults and children in Columbia County, N.Y. Part of the statewide NYSARC, they run residential group homes and apartments, a sheltered workshop, supported employment (job coaches), adult day programs and various children's services such as a preschool and summer camp.
Last year, the Polar Bear Plunge was held to raise money for activities at COARC’s summer camp for developmentally disabled children. This year, it is to raise funds for a new playground for their integrated preschool. If you want to contribute, mail a check made out to COARC to Steven Lidsky, COARC, 65 Prospect Ave Hudson, NY 12534. For additional information, please phone Steven at (518) 828-6043, ext. 100 or e-mail: Steve1@COARC.org
FRANK SERPICO STILL BEARDED, HANDSOME AND FASCINATING
The New York Times recently did a long piece about Frank Serpico, made famous when Al Pacino portrayed him in Sidney Lumet’s brilliant film of the same name. As many will remember, Serpico was an unusual cop, dressing in disguises from street vagrant to butcher to orthodox rabbi. He became an outcast from the NYPD when he turned whistle blower exposing widespread corruption in the New York Police Department and testified at the Knapp Commission hearings that shook up the department. We met years ago when he lived quietly and out of public eye by choice. He was, and still is, quite the flamboyant fellow, dressing in unusual clothing. At the time we met, he had a very large Great Dane, a gentle giant of a dog. He told an amusing story of the filming of Serpico where he was on the set as an adviser. Lumet was filming a dramatic scene that took place in the bathroom of a rundown apartment. The victim of this scene was having his face pushed repeatedly into a toilet—a dramatic style of interrogation.
Frank went to Lumet and said, “Sidney, that’s not how it happened.”
Lumet, without missing a beat, replied, “Pussycat, it’s a movie.”
Years later, I was surprised to see Frank at one of my favorite tango parlors. He was surprised to see me, too. In the Times article, it refers to some of his interests, including tango. (Message to Frank—I’d love to take a few turns around the floor with you.)
FLOYD ABRAMS AND FREE SPEECH
Floyd Abrams deserves the acclaim he has achieved as a First Amendment lawyer. He recently spoke about press freedom on a panel that took place at the New York Times, which was written about, in the January 30-31 issue of the Wall Street Journal by reporter James Taranto. Lyle and I met with Abrams when we were facing a long, expensive libel action against Barricade Books, which I don’t care to discuss here lest it bring back bad memories. It was in our opinion a First Amendment issue, and you couldn’t do better than have Floyd Abrams represent you in such a case. Abrams was elegant, smart and gracious. He was also thoughtful about our plight and amiably pointed out that we could not afford to hire his firm at their rarefied rates. He had a few suggestions including looking for a patron. Alas, that did not happen. Nevertheless, he was a gentleman. This long, very good piece in the Wall Street Journal discusses how Abrams has represented the New York Times Co. from time to time, notably in the Pentagon Papers case of 1971. Now, he was on the opposite side against the Times in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission where the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision invalidated federal laws that made certain political speech a crime.
This was not Abrams’ case but he took interest in it because it overturned a case he lost, McConnell v. FEC, where a 5-4 majority upheld provisions of the 2002 McCain-Feingold law, including one that criminalized corporate funding of “electioneering communication” within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. He now supported Citizens United, which produced the critical documentary about Hillary Clinton, saying it was a very committed conservative entity and should have the same protection of speech by the First Amendment no matter how disdainful their expression for a candidate is. It’s the unpopular (as seen by some) expression that needs the protection of the First Amendment.
He went on to talk about restrictions on campaign contributions, which he was in favor of. Abrams thought there was room for more government involvement about contributions because “. . . there is a greater risk of something in the order of quid pro quo corruption . . . As of right now, the court has struck the balance pretty well.”
The article was written before the Supreme Court overturned the limit on campaign contributions.
Until next time,
Carole